Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Last year, after the Seahawks won Super Bowl 48, I blogged about how it feels to win. This year, after they lost Super Bowl 49, I feel compelled to blog about how it feels to lose.
Let me just say that I have nothing against the Denver Broncos. I think Peyton Manning seems like a nice guy, and his SNL appearance was hilarious. So, winning against the Broncos last year didn't feel like a triumph over someone else, it just felt like a triumph. I do NOT like the New England Patriots, however. I think Tom Brady seems like an über douche, and whatever the facts of the case may be, the whole Deflategate thing is pretty shady. So, had the Seahawks won this year, it would have felt like a triumph over someone.
However, the Seahawks did not win. They lost. :( I really did believe with all my heart that we were going to win. We were SO close. If that last play had ended differently, we totally would have won. However, we lost. It was very disappointing. Very. It didn't seem real. It seemed like a bad dream. However, after the initial shock and disappointment (and maybe a few tears), my thoughts veered back toward the positive. I believe so strongly in the Seahawks that I believe we'll be back in the Super Bowl again. Next year. And the year after that. And so on. I believe they will get up and try again. And keep trying. And succeed sometimes. And fail sometimes. Such is life.
I was more concerned for my friends Erica and Jessica, who have been life-long fans, whose father has written for the Seahawks their whole lives, who were AT THE SUPER BOWL. They were heartbroken. :( As I'm sure countless other die-hard Seahawks fans were as well.
This Super Bowl loss has really put things into perspective for me. I don't feel like the Seahawks are any less awesome because they didn't win. I don't believe their loss reflects poorly upon Seattle or Seahawks fans. It's just what happened. It's just life. You win some, you lose some. So why did winning feel so different? Football is a game and is really meant to be entertainment, but it can get pretty serious. I know it brings out some of my not-so-great qualities. Like how I almost tripped a 49er fan in a bar (I stopped myself because I realized that it was stupid and childish and "What did he ever do to me?"; he was still not very pleased, even though I did not actually trip him). I yell "Suck it, [insert team name or player name here]!" a lot. I mistrust people wearing non-Seahawks jerseys—I furrow my brow and shake my head at them. What?! Why?! Football plays into my "separatist" thinking—there's us and there's them. But that goes against what I really believe, which is that we are all one—there is only us. And that's what losing has made me realize—I can no longer look at football with a separatist view. I must look at it as the entertainment it's meant to be. I must see all fans and players as equal and inherently good (even if it's people like Tom Brady, Colin Kaepernick, and Clay Matthews, all of whom I've previously wanted to smack in the face, just because). I need to get over myself (and my team) and realize that no one (and no team) is better than any other. We are all equal. We are all good. We are all one.
Football can also be a great life lesson. I plan on blogging in more detail about the wonderful life lessons taught us in the NFC Championship game between the Seahawks and the Packers, but for the sake of brevity here, let's just say that never giving up is a good lesson you can learn by watching football.
So even though I'm going to try to be more inclusive and equal with football from now on, the Seahawks are still my team. They will always be my team. I will always root for them to win (I just won't taunt the other team or its fans). I will always show my enthusiasm, respect, and admiration for them. They arrived home in Washington yesterday, and I wish they had made a bigger deal about it so more people could have been there to welcome them home (like we did to send them off). As it was, yesterday afternoon, I heard honking outside my office window and I looked out to see several Seahawks buses passing down 188th in SeaTac on their way home from the airport. I jumped up and down and waved like a maniac, hoping they could see me, even though I was two stories up. Even though there weren't crowds along 188th like there were for the sendoff, they did have people cheering them home in Renton, close to their practice facility, which was nice. It just shows that Seattle will always love its Seahawks, win or lose.
Long story short, losing kinda sucks, but it's just something you have to go through in life. Losing can spark positive changes, like trying harder or choosing to see the world differently. I'm very grateful for the lesson I learned when the Hawks lost the Super Bowl. I would not have learned it had they won (however, had they won, I'd be celebrating my ass off right now). So, basically, win or lose, it's all good. :)

Sunday, January 11, 2015

At some point this year, I plan to self-publish the novel I wrote for 2012's NaNoWriMo. To whet your appetite until that happens, and because I wanted to give you a glimpse into what you can expect from my writing, here is one of my earliest novels. This was written thirty years ago after my family's first trip to Disneyland. As you will see, I was highly influenced by the Matterhorn and its Abominable Snowman.

Because I didn't have an editor at the time, and well, I was seven, there are some misspellings and such throughout the book. To preserve its historical significance, I am presenting the book in its original glory. I give you, Night at Switzerland:

Night At Switzerland by Kate Ziemer [Author's note: my first grade teacher could not remember that my name was Adriane, not Andrea, so for a brief period of time, I changed my name to Kate.]

Once ther was an old old woman who knew Evrey thing but about the Night time. the old women said she was so scared that A Abdonable snow man would come.

One Night the old women stayed up All Night and Abdonable snow man came!

The old women set a trap For the Abdonable snowman. And the Abdonable snowman got traped!

The old woman laufted. and said Oh that will take care of you!

The End

When my new novel comes out, I think you will find that even thirty years later, I am still writing strong female characters.

And, outside of my writing, I am still incredibly in love with the Matterhorn and the Abominable Snowman. Especially the little Abominable Snowman that makes popcorn in that popcorn cart in Fantasyland. Seriously. So cute.

Friday, July 18, 2014

Reason five: I got overwhelmed. Sometimes I get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of stuff in the world. Like just the thought of how many people, places, events, viewpoints, emotions, colors, smells, thoughts, foods, hair salons, animals, things, etc. there are in the Universe overwhelms me to the point where I don't want to do anything. The internet is definitely something that overwhelms me—and Facebook especially. My Facebook friends are posting stuff, the pages I like on Facebook are posting stuff, I'm posting stuff, there are ads and links to news stories and so on and so on. It's too much to handle sometimes. I just wanted to make it all stop.

Reason four: I cannot stand dumb/mean/negative/judgmental/ ignorant comments on posts (and yes, I realize that by me judging these comments thusly, I am being judgmental myself). Reading the comments on an internet article is one of the most frustrating things you can do, and reading comments from strangers (or possibly even people you know) on Facebook is equally aggravating. I get all worked up when I read a comment that irks me, so why should I subject myself to that nonsense? I shouldn't. (I should also learn to not let others opinions irritate me, but that's an issue for another time.)

Reason three: I've developed a Facebook compulsion over the years. I will seriously check it every time I get bored—even if I just checked it five minutes ago and there was nothing new to see. It's a seriously bad habit that I've been unable to break myself of.

Reason two: There's so much drama in the LBC. I'm picky about my Facebook. I only want to be Facebook friends with people that I interact with on a regular basis and/or want to know what they're up to frequently. I hate feeling obligated to be Facebook friends with someone just so I don't hurt their little Facebook feelings. I've been called out, called mean, and had people get mad at me for unfriending people, and I got sick of it. It's my Facebook, and I should be Facebook friends with whomever I want. I have unfriended people for mean or judgmental comments. I've unfriended people who I just didn't interact with on the regular and didn't see the point in having them as a Facebook friend. I've unfriended people from work because I decided to keep my work life and personal life separate. I don't hate or even dislike these people—I just didn't want them on my Facebook. I know you can just unfollow your Facebook friends so you don't see their shit, but they can still see your shit, and sometimes I just don't want that. Besides, I resent the fact that I should have to unfollow the people I don't want to be Facebook friends with in the first place. Fuck all that shit. I've had people unfriend me too, of course. Sure, I might be curious as to why they did it. But hey, there are about a million reasons why they'd unfriend me that have nothing to do with hating me or being mean people, and I don't feel that they owe me any explanation. I did post a lot of pictures of my cats. ;)

And the number one reason why I deleted my Facebook account: I should actually be living my life. I should be appreciating each moment as it happens, not wondering how I'll look when the photos get posted to Facebook, or how something that happened might make an amusing status, or getting upset when no one likes or comments on something I post. Seriously. The internet isn't real life, and I shouldn't treat it as such.

Admittedly, I will miss parts of Facebook—mostly being connected to my friends and family who live in other states and other countries. But hey, they all have my email address and phone number, so hopefully we can catch up that way. I will also miss being friends with the Bouncing Souls. No, not just the band's Facebook account, but the original three members themselves. Greg even commented on one of my pictures once. :D Who knows—perhaps I shall return to Facebook one day, but for now, I'm am SO done with it, and I feel SO good about that!